When communities build walls to separate their people
(due to a poverty of understanding or compassion), the lack can seem insurmountable.

“The world tends to define poverty and riches simply in terms of economics. But poverty has many faces—weakness, dependence, and many forms of humiliation. Essentially, poverty is a lack of means to accomplish what one desires or needs, be it lack of money, relationships, influence, power, intellectual ability, physical strength, freedom, or dignity.”—Richard Rohr.

Rohr’s words convey that the concept of poverty goes beyond dollars and cents. At its heart, poverty is a lack of something—something that is crucial to humanness.

You know people (or you may have experienced it yourself) who have the dollars and cents but are poor (lack) in:

acceptance

authenticity

calm

clarity

critical thinking

discipline

education

evidence

health

hope

humor

inspiration

love

opportunity

peace

purpose

relationships

resilience

respect for others

respect for selves

security

spirituality

virtuous action

vision

When we experience poverty we feel, in that space, a separation from those who have what we do not. It could be ego-based, or it could just as well be survival-oriented. Whatever its roots, it is real to us.

When communities build walls to separate their people (due to a poverty of understanding or compassion), the lack can seem insurmountable. When those barriers are breached by humanity—kindness, understanding, assistance, education, nourishment on physical, spiritual, and emotional levels—we have a chance to address poverty.

When we continue to separate, demonize, fail to understand, or do not even attempt to communicate, poverty deepens.

For information about and to order my book, Stories about Teaching, Learning, and Resilience: No Need to be an Island, click here. A few colleges and one state-wide agency have adopted it for training and coaching purposes. Contact me if you and your team are interested in doing the same.

The paperback price on Amazon is now $14.99 and the Kindle version stands at $5.99. Consider it for a faculty orientation or a mentoring program. The accompanying videos would serve to stimulate community-building conversations at the beginning of a meeting.